Darfur – 2009

03Jan

With dismaying predictability, the continuing catastrophe in Darfur commands less and less news attention, largely because it has settled into a grim “genocide by attrition,” defined not so much by massive atrocities—although these continue to occur—as by relentless, if undramatic, human suffering and destruction consequent upon the Khartoum regime’s deliberate exacerbating of insecurity confronting civilians and aid workers. Most of the region has only a tenuous and fitful humanitarian presence, and many distressed populations are completely beyond reach (see UN access map at http://www.unsudanig.org/library/mapcatalogue/darfur/index.php?fid=access). Darfur’s visibility has diminished not only because the observational presence of humanitarian workers is much reduced (even as their fear of speaking out has increased), but because the Khartoum regime has imposed severe restrictions on journalists seeking access to Darfur.

Mohamed Adam Yahya is a refugee from Darfur and the founder of the Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, an organization founded to promote the human rights of Darfuris in exile and in Sudan. He speaks with Daljit Dhaliwal about the current situation in refugee camps and about the motivations and future of the shabab.Video Link here.